Story Idea?

OSU News & Research Communications consistently gets its best story ideas from faculty members who contact us with great information from their labs and classrooms. If you have a story idea that you think deserves an audience, call 541-737-4611 to speak with a staff member. Before you do, here is some information that can help you help us tell the story properly. First, determine what kind of story you have, and whether you want an internal or an external audience.

Do you have a…

Research or student story?

Do you have research you think might be worthy of media attention? Timeliness and importance are key elements in getting media coverage. Is your work coming out in a peer-reviewed journal? Are you having a book published? Is your work being used as part of an industry partnership? Will your work impact how people live, work, play? Then we want to hear from you.

Click here for a list of tips on the kinds of details we'll need about your story.

Below is a chart of OSU News and Research Communications staff, other communication professionals, and their areas of coverage:

Your area of research might also be a strong candidate for our monthly Science Pub Corvallis, an event held at Old World Deli, which draws large crowds to hear about the latest OSU research. To learn more: http://oregonstate.edu/terra/science-pub-corvallis/

Want to publicize an event?

Are you hoping to promote an event? First determine whether your event needs to be publicized on campus or if you want to attract a broader community audience. Be realistic. Very few campus events draw an audience beyond the Corvallis community. A press release can be helpful for certain events with a broad appeal, but many events would be better served with other approaches. To promote your event on campus, submit it to the OSU calendar at http://calendar.oregonstate.edu/. Additionally, submit it to OSU Today, which has an audience of almosst 11,000 subscribers, most of them affiliated with OSU. Consider creating posters and fliers to distribute on campus and around the community. You can access free templates here: http://oregonstate.edu/brand/content/print-downloads Need help with event logistics? Contact University Events: http://oregonstate.edu/urm/events/

Want to share information with the rest of campus?

There are a variety of ways to share your story with the campus community. LIFE@OSU is the online faculty and staff news magazine. Stories about awards and honors, events, features on interesting staff and faculty, graduate student features and more are all highlighted in the magazine. To submit story ideas, email lifeatosu@oregonstate.edu To reach the OSU community with your OSU-related events or news, submit them to OSU Today, the daily campus e-news blast that currently has almost 11,000 subscribers. For submission guidelines: http://oregonstate.edu/osutoday/?p=6898. To submit an item, email osutoday@oregonstate.edu

Media training:

Working with the media can be an intimidating prospect if you have no previous experience, or if you’ve had a negative interaction in the past. Our job is to help you become more familiar with how the process of creating a news story works, and offer you tips before you have your next interview.

Contact one of our staff folks listed above if you're interested in participating in media training.

If you do get interviewed and your story appears in the media, make sure to send a link of the article or broadcast to osutoday@oregonstate.edu so that we can share your interview with the campus community.